August 23, 2010

OAKLAND,CA - It was the 10th Anniversary of the Arts & Soul Festival held in the downtown Oakland. In true fashion the event brought out both young and old to celebrate summer in downtown Oakland. The weather did not disappoint as well. There were several food vendors, artists, handicraft as well as corporate entities present at this year's festival. You did not see much visible police present as in previous years, which is probably due to the current budget mishmash going in the City of Oakland. Nonetheless it was truly apparent that everyone was having a great time. There was a great abundance of diversity at this year's festival as it is at all festivals. There is so much rich diversity in the East-bay its infectious. I attended Sunday's festival and the talent for Sunday, was split between three stages. On the Plaza stage was a mix of jazz, contemporary music and salsa provided by Pete Escovedo and family. There was also the Blues and Heritage stage where a host of talented musicians performed for the more mature audience. On the main stage were most of the excitement was generated due to performances by Tony, Toni,Tone minus Raphael Saadiq, PopLyfe, Club Nouveau, Sheila E. and En Vogue. The main stage emcee was Mark Curry, who through his comedy kept the audience amused especially when there was a short wait between each set. Dwayne Wiggins formerly of Tony, Toni, Tone served as the music director on stage and did an excellent job of keeping the music flowing. Of course the anticipated performance by En Vogue was what everyone was waiting for. After about 36 minutes after the set was to begin the four "Funky Divas" come on to the stage, they received a rousing introduction by Renel a popular local DJ. All four of the group performed a melody of songs that were synonymous for in past years. There electrifying performance brought the audience to their feet. At times the stadium sound audio did overpower the vocals however for the most part it was a great performance and sort of a homecoming for these four young ladies of Oakland. The last set was performed by Shelia E. who definitely did not disappoint her fans. Her rhythmic latin music with the congas, and other instruments that you have come to expect to see when Sheila E. performs. Check out some pictorial highlights from this year's event shown below:

December 21, 2009

As you know, this past fall, Sprite held competitions in 6 cities across the country to find the best step teams in the U.S. The teams are competing for a share of the biggest combined stepping prize pool in history – $1.5 million in scholarships up for grabs! I’m writing to let you know that the Sprite Step Off challenge is BACK! Winning fraternity and sorority teams from the qualifier competitions are moving on to the Regional Semi-Finals – there are over 60 teams from 50 colleges and universities across the country participating. The next round of competitions takes place in the following cities:

Visit our updated site (www.spritestepoff.com) to see the full list of teams that will be competing in the semi-regional finals. You can experience the Sprite Step Off for yourself! To purchase tickets to the competitions in advance, visit: http://bit.ly/sotix. There is a special discount code for people that will get them $5.00 off the price of admission when they purchase tickets online! Use this code when checking out: 36E2450AL

Over the course of the competition, participating teams will also contribute to the 1.5 million hours of community service pledged in the national Sprite Step Off Service Challenge. The SSOSC (http://bit.ly/SSOSRV) is a collaboration between the National Pan-Hellenic Council and several non-profit organizations, including the Boys & Girls Club of America and Ronald McDonald House Charities ®, to help spark community service amongst youth across the country. Greeks are leaders on campus and in their communities, so Sprite Step Off can be a vehicle to inspire young people to positively impact their community and pursue higher education.

Keep up with us on Facebook and follow Sprite Step Off on Twitter for live updates from the events! Last but not least, check out our step videos on the Sprite Step Off YouTube channel as well – http://www.youtube.com/spritestepoff.

April 21, 2008

FORT-DE-FRANCE, France (Reuters) - France paid tribute on Sunday to
the poet and statesman Aime Cesaire, a fierce critic of colonialism and
a father of the "negritude" movement that celebrated black pride and
consciousness. Cesaire, who died on Thursday at the age of 94 was commemorated at
a state funeral in his native Martinique attended by President Nicolas
Sarkozy, government ministers and senior figures from the opposition
Socialist Party. Thousands of ordinary Martinicans had already paid their own homage
as Cesaire's body lay in state in the football stadium of the Caribbean
island's main town Fort-de-France."All French people today feel Martinican in their hearts," Sarkozy
said in a short speech before the ceremony. "Martinicans should know
and understand that the 7,000 kilometres that separate them from the
mainland have never counted so little."In mainland France, the ceremony was followed by a crowd in front
of the Paris city hall where it was broadcast onto a giant screen and
television stations also carried the proceedings.In deference to Cesaire's lack of religious belief, the ceremony in
the packed stadium took the form of a "cultural homage" with readings
from his works.The interest with which the funeral was followed in France
underlined the respect accorded to Cesaire, who was a fixture in
Martinique and who regularly received a stream of visiting politicians
and writers from the mainland.The firmness with which he defended his ideas was underlined in
2005 when he refused to meet Sarkozy, then interior minister, over the
ruling party's support for a law which proposed to recognise the
positive legacy of France's colonial rule.After study at the prestigious Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris,
Cesaire won prominence in 1939 with his "Notebook of a Return to the
Native Land", in which he celebrated "negritude" ("blackness") and his
relationship with his own land. SOURCE OF THIS STORY

April 01, 2008

It's also about fun and lots
of flesh at Carnaval, the Mission Neighborhood Centers' wild festival
and parade celebrating the traditions of Latin America - and beyond -
on Memorial Day weekend in the Mission District. And this year, as the
event gears up for its 30th anniversary, the pressure to deliver was on
for the eight finalists vying to shake it as Carnaval King and Queen. The contestants Saturday were all fierce competitors, having
gyrated and shimmied their way through a field of 24 at the February
preliminaries. But the real test awaited them in the cleared center of
a packed dance floor, where seven judges seated on the balcony above
would score them not just for authenticity and skill but also for pure
excitement. Each competitor had three minutes to get the crowd roaring,
six minutes if performing with a partner, though dancers would be
judged individually. As 2001 King Theo Williams surveyed the talent, the self-proclaimed
Livest King of All said, "It's not the dance steps, not the
choreography, not the costume, though that all plays a role. It's the
ability to connect with the crowd and energize that Carnaval spirit." This year, stripping also helped. Brother-and-sister act Jorge and
Yereiza Fong went first, clearly at a disadvantage in their demure
Panamanian togs. Yereiza waved her long red skirt as Jorge doffed his
straw hat while his feet shuffled sweetly below. This being the wild
mix of cultures that is Carnaval, the other acts didn't worry much
about authenticity. Brazilian-style finalist Weaver mixed samba
shuffles with West African lunges, in tribute to his deceased teacher,
Oakland's beloved Carlos Aceituno. Caribbean-style finalists Oscar
Davis Jr. and Merissa Lyons crossed his salsa skills with her
Trinidadian heritage, sashaying through ballroom-like moves before
flapping their gold capes, letting loose high kicks and even tossing in
cheerleader toe-touch jumps. Elias, the female Brazilian finalist, went for the slow tease,
strutting to "The Girl From Ipanema" before ripping off her sarong and
going all-out samba, hips rocking above fiercely fast feet. But her
pretty face and pelvic grinds were no match for the reckless disrobing
of contemporary/fusion finalists Everett Harper and Garton, whose
routine relied on samba, flamenco and North Brazilian styles - and lots
and lots of Velcro. Purple capes were soon discarded, revealing
red-and-black chaps for him, a swishing skirt that got shorter - and
shorter - and shorter - with each yank for her. Finally, Garton ripped off Harper's shirt, leaving him in just a
white collar to flex his six-pack Chippendale style. Then he returned
the favor by pulling the last shred of cloth from her hips, her
derriere jiggling artfully in a thong as gold chains bounced across her
glutes. The crowd loved it. SOURCE OF THIS STORY

February 05, 2008

December 25, 2007

Kwanzaa or Kwanza,
secular seven-day festival in celebration of the African heritage of
African Americans, beginning on Dec. 26. Developed by Maulana Karenga
and first observed in 1966, Kwanzaa is based in part on traditional
African harvest festivals but particularly emphasizes the role of the
family and community in African-American culture. Each day is dedicated
to a particular principle (unity, self-determination, collective work
and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and
faith), and on each day one of the candles on a seven-branched
candelabrum is lighted. The celebration also includes the giving of
gifts and a karamu, or African feast.

The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa [Nguzo Saba]1) Umojo (Unity) To Strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race.2) Kujichagulia (Self-Determination) To define ouselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves.3) Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility)
To build and maintain our community together and make our brother's and
sister's problems our problems and to solve them together.4) Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics) To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together.5) Nia (Purpose)
To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our
community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.6) Kuumba (Creativity)
To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave
our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.7) Imani (Faith)
To believe with all our hearts in our people, our parents, our
teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our
struggle.

November 02, 2007

Who can forget the dude that put the light skinned brothas on the map?
Well the young kids may not know just who Al B. Sure is, but if you
ever wondered what he has been up to, EURweb caught up the the former heartthrob..."And
we've got Al B. working on the new album, which is called 'Honey I'm
Home.' It's been quite a while, but its coming. Everybody I run in to,
from Anthony Anderson to Michael Jackson, are asking me 'When're you
going to come with the new album. I really love it and appreciate it.
It's about time now. I've lost all the weight and it's time to do it."He's
currently a popular radio show host from 9 am to 12 pm on LA radio
station Hot 92.3. It's a job Al B. Sure says he enjoys greatly. By the
way, radio and CDs aren't the only mediums he's dabbling in these days."Definitely, Hot 92.3 has been a blessing to me. I talk to (millions)
of people everyday. I'm definitely keeping the radio gig. But I'm also
in a new straight to DVD film with Blair Underwood. It's called 'The
Hit' and it's on CodeBlack/Universal. It also stars DeRay Davis and
James Russo from 'The Godfather.' It's a nice little joint." SOURCE OF THIS STORY

November 01, 2007

Hot Water Cornbread, LLC enlists the assistance of Tony Award winning HBO Def Poets, and today’s hottest Neo Soul vocalists to breathe new life into the City of Oakland! Poet Scorpio Blues and Hot Water Cornbread, LLC have channeled their artistic resources and solicited the help of San Francisco’s Hunters Point native Martin Luther McCoy (vocalist/star of the feature film “Across the Universe”); Oakland native recording artist, Ise Lyfe; Artemis Records’ Jaguar Wright; Tony Award Winning Def Poet GeorgiaMe, Blue Erro Soul Entertainment's Eric Roberson and more. As a new way to experience amazing music, phenomenal poetry and great people, the Spoken Word Soul Fest offers live performances by world-renown artists every evening from October 31st - November 4th. Engage in panel discussions, workshops and open dialogue to address the issues plaguing our community and solutions to begin rebuilding from the ground up! Cost: $10-150 Official Site: http://www.spokenwordsoulfest.com

October 31, 2007

Though it'll probably join the ranks of skateboarding and
breakdancing ciphers as one of the hipper, more notable innovations of
the late 20th century, slam poetry supposedly started out as a bar
game. And it's Great Grandpappy (or "Slam Pappy," rather), according to
Oakland Poetry Slam mistress Nazelah Jamison, was Marc Smith, a Chicago
construction worker and "bar napkin poet" who was really justsome
guy. Around 1987, Smith came up with the whole idea of turning a poetry
mic into a competition with its own scoring system, mostly because it
was the only way to hold people's attention in a bar. Within a few
years, these small, "common man poetry"-oriented slams generated a
hugely popular scene that became both an artistic movement and a market
juggernaut. Suddenly, underground emcees and Def Poetry Jam artists had
supplanted the Robert Frosts and Walt Whitmans of the literary canon.
Poetry's hipster quotient rose immeasurably.While it's waning on a national scale, the spoken-word craze remains
alive and well in Oakland, home to YouthSpeaks artists Marc Bamuthi
Joseph, Ise Lyfe, and Chinaka Hodge, along with such rousing open mics
as the Broakland Poetry Slam, Hella at EastSide Arts Alliance, and
Mouth Off at the Air Lounge. This week, the folks from Hotwater
Cornbread, LLC — who launched Mouth Off in 2006 — present the Spoken Word Soul Fest at various Oakland venues, including Air Lounge, Club Anton, and Kimball's Carnival. Featuring the talents of Ise Lyfe, GeorgiaMe, Scorpio Blues, Amir Sulaiman, Hunters Point-raised soul artist Martin Luther, and the sublime emcees Bahamadia, Mystic, and Medusa
— who combine hip-hop swagger with lush balladeer vocals — this event
also includes panel discussions and workshops to recoup the social and
community-building dimensions of spoken word. At Saturday's panel (held
from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at the Oakland Marriott Convention Center), a
bevy of poets, emcees, and radio personalities (including Hard Knock
host Davey D, emcees Medusa and Mystic, Ise Lyfe, and Queen Sheeba)
will discuss such issues as Hurricane Katrina, the Jena 6 case, and the
'08 elections. Titled Artists Respond to Chaos, it will serve
as a fulcrum for Spoken Word Soul and highlight the event's political
impetus. The Spoken Word Soul Fest runs Wednesday through Sunday,
November 4, and costs $10-$150. SpokenWordSoulFest.comSOURCE OF THIS STORY

October 30, 2007

By Dana Rubinstein - The Brooklyn Paper
Behemoth record label Universal Music Group must change the name of
rapper Nas’s new album, “Nigger,” or risk losing $84 million in state
investments, a Fort Greene assemblyman said this week.“[They are] profiting from a racial slur that has been
used to dehumanize people of color for centuries,” said Assemblyman
Hakeem Jeffries (D–Fort Greene), a former entertainment industry
big-wig. “It is time for Nas and other hip-hop artists to clean up
their act and stop flooding the airwaves with the N-word.”
Jeffries called on Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli to withdraw the $84
million that the state pension fund has invested in Universal and its
parent company, Vivendi. “It’s a staggering amount of money, which at
least justifies a review of the appropriateness of the content that is
flooding the public,” said Jeffries. Clinton Miller, of Brown Memorial
Baptist Church, and Jill Merritt, a founder of the Abolish the N-Word
Project, joined Jeffries in his condemnation of the word.
A recent report by state Sen. Antoine Thompson (D–Buffalo) revealed
that the New York State Pension Fund has $2.8 billion invested in 16
major entertainment companies, including Time Warner and Disney. That
number did not include the state’s investment in Vivendi.
Universal did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for
DiNapoli, who manages the pension fund, said that the comptroller “is
concerned about this issue and is intending to contact the company and
urge them not to release the album.”The fight to quell the use of the
controversial term has been gaining ground lately. In February, the
Council passed legislation urging people not to use the repugnant
racial slur.
Jeffries, who was an assistant general counsel at CBS and a lawyer at
Viacom before he was elected last year, is intent on hitting the
industry where it hurts. “The [Council made] an important symbolic
step, but I’m more interested in the substantive approach of reviewing
the multi-billion-dollar investment that the New York State pension
fund makes in the entertainment industry.”
Source: The Brooklyn Paper

October 24, 2007

In the same week that Atlanta rapper T.I. got arrested on gun charges
and Chicago emcee Lupe Fiasco allegedly dissed A Tribe Called Quest,
three events happened in the Bay Area that suggest the culture isn't
dissolving, it's evolving. Both incidents, which happened during VH-1's "Hip-Hop Honors" week in
New York, seem dubious. Note to T.I.: Never trust a bodyguard who has
the time to arrange the purchase of assault weapons behind your back,
instead of watching your back. As for Lupe's fiasco, should it really
surprise anybody that the "Kick, Push" guy, who grew up in the ghettos
of Chicago, listened to N.W.A., not Tribe, as a youth? If anything,
it's to his credit that he sounds more like Q-Tip than Ice Cube, given
his background. As the Lupe/T.I. drama reverberated through the blogosphere, the Living
Word Festival and the Hip-Hop Chess Federation's King Invitational were
busy enriching young minds. You know hip-hop is serious when it takes
over museums, as the Living Word Festival did recently when pioneering
NYC MC Grandmaster Caz held court at SFMOMA, joined by Oakland's Ise
Lyfe and author Jeff Chang. A much smaller crowd than the television audience who saw the VH-1
event got to hear Caz (ironically, sporting a "Hip-Hop Honors" jacket)
explain the culture's continued relevance: "Hip-hop is free. The
essence of hip-hop is free. You don't need a membership card, you don't
need to be signed to a label, you don't need to be hot or nothing to
participate." Caz broke down plenty of game about the early days of hip-hop. But
still, he had to give kudos to Ise Lyfe, who came so real with his. At
one point, Caz took off his dark shades and paid rapt attention to the
youngster's story about rhyming for the first time at a postmortem
cipher for Tupac during a seventh-grade rec-room dance. SOURCE OF THIS STORY

October 21, 2007

October 19, 2007

Over the past three decades black culture has grown so conflated
with hip-hop culture that for most Americans under the age of 45,
hip-hop culture is black culture. Except that it's not. During
the controversy over Don Imus' comments this spring, the radio host was
pilloried for using the same sexist language that is condoned, if not
celebrated, in hip-hop music and culture. As the scandal evolved, some
critics, including the Rev. Al Sharpton and the NAACP, shifted their
attention to the rap industry. Indeed, every couple of years, it seems,
we ask ourselves: Is hip-hop poisonous? Is it misogynistic, violent and
nihilistic? What kind of message is it sending? But what critics
consistently fail to emphasize in these sporadic storms of opprobrium,
as most did during the Imus affair, is that the stakes transcend
hip-hop: Black culture itself is in trouble. Born in the projects
of the South Bronx, tweaked to its gangsta form in the 'hoods of South
Central Los Angeles and dumbed down unconscionably in the ghettos of
the "Dirty South" (the original Confederate states, minus Missouri and
Kentucky), there are no two ways about it -- hip-hop culture is not
black culture, it's black street culture. Despite 40 years of progress
since the civil rights movement, in the hip-hop era -- from the late
1970s onward -- black America, uniquely, began receiving its values,
aesthetic sensibility and self-image almost entirely from the street
up. SOURCE OF THIS STORY

September 2012

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